Team Europe Initiatives (TEIs) are initiatives, where the EU, EU Member States, their development agencies and financial institutions, as well as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) join forces in the pursuit of key policy objectives. The purpose of such coordinated and collective process is to promote, under the Team Europe brand, initiatives with a maximum transformative impact in partner countries, both at regional and country level.
Job creation is at the centre of building the Euro-Mediterranean region’s long-term prosperity. At present, countries are redoubling efforts to balance the need to address the Covid-19 pandemic socio-economic fallout and manage longstanding or emerging crises.
In the current geopolitical context, the EU and its partners under Team Europe will continue support partners in the Southern neighbourhood to attract investment and boost their trade; while emphasise the need to link it to sustainable and inclusive job creation.
Currently, in the Southern Neighbourhood young people are even three times more likely than adults to be out of a job. Women continue to be underrepresented on the labour market even though they could help reduce inequalities, strengthen community inclusion, and contribute to economic stability.
The regional TEI “Jobs through trade and investment”, launched in May 2022 during the Union for the Mediterranean to address the enormous challenges for decent employment in the Southern Neighbourhood both on the demand and supply sides. It supports a holistic approach to job creation in the Southern Neighbourhood, by bringing together initiatives that link trade, investment, and entrepreneurship policies and create new jobs.
In order to reach transformative impact in the region, this TEI covers three thematic pillars:
Regional action will allow for cooperation, enable sharing of best practices between countries and spearhead innovative approaches at the regional level.